McCain on the economy in Independence

Republican presidential candidate John McCain told supporters at the Truman Presidential Library in Independence that he sees the federal bailout bill as a chance for Congress to come together. If the bill fails again, he said the crisis will become a disaster.

"As credit disappears, students will no longer be able to get loans for college and families looking for a new home will be unable to get a loan," McCain said. "New car sales will come to a halt, businesses will have difficulty securing credit for operations and may be unable to pay employees. If we fail to act the gears of the economy will grind to a halt."

While Congress prepares to act on the financial crisis, they’ve failed to address the root problem: the housing crisis, he said.

"In the face of mounting job losses, we still have not yet taken action to put our economy back on track with policies that would encourage job creation or with updates to an unemployment system and job training programs that were created for the 1950’s," McCain said. "Our government is on the wrong track."

McCain said he will be returning to Washington for the Senate vote on the bailout bill. Senate leaders have scheduled a vote for tonight.

"There will be a time to fix the blame for all that has happened especially in the case of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and the abuses and political deal making that corrupted those institutions, but our duty right now is to fix the problem," McCain said.